Digital three-dimensional manufacturing, also known as digital additive manufacturing, is a process of making a three-dimensional solid object of virtually any shape from a digital model. Three-dimensional printing is an additive process in which one or more printheads or ejector heads eject successive layers of material on a substrate in different shapes. The substrate is supported either on a platform that can be moved three dimensionally by operation of actuators operatively connected to the platform, or the printhead or printheads are operatively connected to one or more actuators for controlled movement of the printhead or printheads to produce the layers that form the object. Three-dimensional printing is distinguishable from traditional object-forming techniques, which mostly rely on the removal of material from a work piece by a subtractive process, such as cutting or drilling.
Manufacturing of three-dimensional printed parts at high speed is a significant challenge because many of the processes involved are time consuming and often done manually. Automation has provided for higher speed and more efficient processing of three-dimensional printed parts. One area of concern relates to removal of the three-dimensional printed part from the build platen. Often the three-dimensional printed part sticks to the build platen and can be challenging to remove. Current methods for part removal include heating, impacting, scraping, and freezing. These methods are generally cumbersome, time consuming, and risk damaging the part or the build platen. What is needed is a method for removing a three-dimensional printed part from a build platen that is fast, reliable, and easily automated.